Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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516. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll-out of broadband connection points; the number of publicly accessible broadband points that are now live by county; the number of these that are on offshore islands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3201/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are among the first deliverables of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) and will provide high-speed broadband connectivity to publicly accessible sites in rural and isolated areas of the country, including a number of our off-shore islands.

These sites will be provided with a temporary wireless connection by National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company contracted to deliver the NBP. This connection will remain in place until the sites have been given a permanent connection under the NBP.

Vodafone Ireland subsequently install and manage WiFi access points and other customer-facing equipment at the BCPs to enable them to be fully operational.

As of Thursday, 14th January 2021, 171 sites had the initial connection established by NBI and Vodafone had installed their equipment at 126 of these sites. 113 sites have been reviewed and accepted as fully "live" by my officials. The table below provides a summary of the number of live BCPs by county, including those on offshore islands and islands connected by a landbridge.

Vodafone are installing sites on a daily basis and will continue to do so as and when they become available. The location of all BCPs which have been installed or which are planned at any point in time is available on NBI's website, at .

In addition to the substantial Government investment already made in the BCPs, my Department is investing an additional €5 million in 2021 to develop the facilities and services available at these sites and other digital hubs.

My officials are also exploring the use of BCPs as educational settings, as locations for eHealth services, as remote working hubs and as locations for the creative arts.